Indicator.



Patented Oct. 17, l916.

A. F. DIXON.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION m10 MAH. 1s, 1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMOS F. DIXON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY'MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Application led March 16, 1914. Serial No. 825,107.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, AMos F. DIXON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Indicators, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to indicators, and more particularlyy to positional and numerical indicators for use with keyboard controlling apparatus.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an indicator of the above type which will show with exactness the number and position of the characters as they are produced, and which may bel reset without liability of interference.

To this end a stepping energy storing device is provided, whereby mechanism is positioned to give the proper indication, associated with safety restoration controlling means whereby the apparatus may be reset to normal or starting position.

The above and other objects of this invention will be fully set forth in the following description and claims, and will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in Which- Figure 1 is a plan of the mechanism assembled inconnection with a keyboard perforator, sections of the mechanism and the inclosing casing being broken away to more clearly show the Working parts; Fig. 2 is a detail of part of the actuating mechanism; Fig. 3 is a detail of part of the reset controlling mechanism, and Fig. el is a partial plan showing some of the parts in resetting position.

It is found particularly desirable in perforators for preparing tapes adapted for use with printing telegraph systems wherein the characters are printed at the receiver in page form, to provide an indicator so that the number and relative horizontal position of the last character produced may be determined at a glance. This relieves the operator from the extra burden of counting the characters and spaces in order to know when to produce the combination of perforations necessary to effect the return of the paper carriage.

The preferred embodiment of this invention is shown associated with the keyboard tape perforator disclosed and claimed in Patent #1,161,500, dated November 23, 1915, but it will be readily understood that the apparatus may be used with any of the well known keyboard perforators or impulse transmitters. The details 'of the'perforator arenot shown, but it will be understood that the depression of any of the character keys 5, causes the selection of combinations of punches' which are forced through the paper tape into a `punch block 6 by means of a magnet 7. The punches and the armature of magnet 7 are joined by a suitable shaft and coupling yarrangement 8, and are normally held in an inoperative position by means of a heavy spring (not shown).

On the front frame of the perforator or on a suitable plate attached thereto is an indicating scale 10 which is divided into sections proportional to the width of the character and letter spaces. Adjacent this scale 10 is an elongated opening 12 through and along which an indicating device or pointer 13 is adapted to move. This construction is preferable since the pointer may be visible to the operator, while the actuating mechanism therefor is hidden from view and protected by the casing. Of course, this construction may be varied to suit particular conditions without departing from the spirit of the invention. Y

Suitably mounted in the frame beneath the cover is a shaft 15, which carries mechanism for controlling the movement of the pointer 13. On shaft 15 there is loosely mounted a ratchet wheel 16, provided with a drum 17 and circumferential teeth 18. The drum 17 is adapted to receive a cord or other flexible connecting member 20 which may be wound thereon and unwound therefrom, as hereinafter described, to control the movement of pointer 13. Cord 20 passes from drum 17 over a guide roller 21 and is secured to one side of the pointer 13. A suitable energy storing body, as a coil spring 25, is provided, secured at one end to the frame of the perfcrator by a pin 26. The free end of spring 25 carries a ring 27 through which a second cord 2S passes. Cord 28 is secured 'at one end to the frame by a pin 39 and at the other end to the pointer 13 on the side opposite to that to which the cord 20 is attached. If found desirable, only one cord may be used, being looped through and secured to the pointer in any suitable manner. It is, therefore, readily apparent that when the wheel 16 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, as will he hereinafter explained, the cord 2() will be wound on drum 17, pointer 13 will move along` scale 1() from left to right, and spring 25 will be extended to store up energy to be later employed in the restoration of the apparatus.

lVheel 16 is rotated step-by-step in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 upon each complete depression of any of the keys 5, through the agency of the actuating magnet 7 and its sprinO'. Shaft 8 carries a small crank 34 to which is pivoted a link 35. Link 35 is provided at its end opposite the crank 34 with a shouldered portion 36 and a coil spring 37. Spring 37 is secured at one end to the link 35 by a pin 38 and at the other end to an angle lever 40 by a pin 41. The lever 40 is pivoted to the frame of the machine at 42 and is so positioned that its rear end can be engaged by the shouldered portion 36 of link 35. Each time shaft 8 and crank 34 are rotated in the direction of the arrow orP Fig. 2, which is the direction of rotation when the magnet 7 1's energized, to actuate the punches, spring 37 forms a iexible coupling between link and lever 40 to oscillate this lever. By this means, the excessive jar caused by the hammer-like stroke of link 35 is not communicated to the indicator mechanism. When, on the other hand, magnet 7 is denergized and the heavy spring, hereinbefore mentioned, returns the armature thereof to normal, the shouldered portion 36 of link 35 returns crank 40 to normal position. Lever 40 pivotally carries a long actuating pawl 45 which is provided at its free end with a hook portion 46 adapted, upon its retraction, to engage the teeth 18 on the circumference of the wheel 16. The pawl 45 is also provided with a lug 47 adapted, during this movement, to engage a stop 48 to prevent the wheel from being advanced more than the required amount. lVhen the magnet 7 is denergized, therefore, the pawl 45 is ad- `vanced until the hook portion 46 has passed over the number of teeth desired for each step, and when the magnet is energized, pawl 45 and the hook portion 46 are retracted until the lug 47 engages the stop 48, the wheel 16 is rotated in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 1, and the pointer 13 is moved one step along the scale.

lVhen the end of a. line is reached or it is otherwise desirable to start a new line of characters, the reset key 50 is depressed. In addition to producing the combination of pertorations required for resetting the printers paper carriage, which need notbe here explained, the reset key 50 causes the pointer 13 to return to the zero point on the scale. The key 50 is provided with a pin 51 adapted to actuate a bell crank lever when the key is depressed. The upper end 53 of lever 52 will then engage the tail of the holding pawl 54 pivoted to the frame at 55. Pawl 54 is normally held by a. spring 56 so that its forward end 57 is ,in engagement with the teeth 18 of wheel 16 and thus prevents the spring 25 from rotating the wheel 16 in the reverse direction during the advancement of pawl 45. IVhen, however, the holding pawl 54 is moved against the tension of spring 56 by the depression of reset key 50, the end 57 is removed from engagement with the teeth 18, carrying with it the actuating pawl 45, as shown in Fig. 4, and spring 25 is free to return the wheel 16 and pointer 13 to normal position.

In order to insure the complete return of the` pointer and to arrest this return movement at the proper place, means are provided for the retention ot the holding pawl out of operative position until the normal condition is restablished and then the holding device is caused to again become operative. This safety mechanism comprises a latch 60 loosely mounted on shaft 15 and under tension of a spring 61. Latch 60 has a stepped portion 62 adapted to engage a pin 63 on pawl 54 under certain conditions to be now explained. When pawl 54 is in position to engage the teeth 18, the pin 63 thereon rests beneath the step 62 on latch 60 and forces the latch back against its abutment 65. When, however, the pawl 54 is raised by reset key 50, as hereinbefore described, the pin 63 is elevated above the step 62 and spring 61 causes latch 60 to take such a position that when the key 50 is released, the` pawl 54, instead of again engaging the teeth 18, is held out of such engagement because of the coperation of step 62 and pin 63. The wheel 16 carries a lug 70 projecting laterally to engage the latch 60 when the pointer has reached the zero position. Latch 60 is thereupon forced backward until pin 63 is released from step 62 and the pawls54 and 45 are again allowed to assume their operative position. The reverse movementof the latch 60, and consequently of wheel 16 and pointer 13, is arrested by abutment 65 which is made adjustable to allow for correcting the normal position of the pointer so that it will return exactly to the zero point of the scale.

In order to give the operator a warning signal. to notify her of the approach of the end of a line, the wheel 16 carries a cam 8O which is adapted to engage and close a pair of contact springs 81. These springs may be connected to a suitable source of energy and signal, such as a bell or lamp, and by positioning the cam accordingly, the warning may be produced at any desired distance from the end of a. line.

That is claimed is:

1. An indicator comprising an energy storing body, an indicating device, means for storing energy in said body and causing said indicating device to register, resetting mechanism for causing said body to restore said indicating device, and means for preventing the premature cessation of the restoring action.

2. In combination an indicating scale, a pointer, an energy storing body, means Jfor causing relative movement between said scale and pointer and the storing of energy in said body, means for allowing said body to establish the normal relation between said scale and pointer, and a latch for locking said means after actuation to prevent premature cessation of the restoring action'. 3. In combination an energy storing body, an indicating scale, a pointer, a rotary member for causing relative advancing movement between said scale and said pointer and the storing of energy in said body whereby the normal relation between said scale and said pointer may be established, means for actuating said rotary member, a manually controlled release for said rotary 'member for causing the establishment of normal relations between said scale and said pointer, and a holding device coperating with said release and controlled by said rotary member for insuring the establishment of normal relations between said scale and said pointer.

4L. A keyboard controlled indicator comprising a scale, a pointer adapted to move over said scale, a spring secured to said pointer, a toothed wheel also secured to said pointer, a key actuated device for rotating saidwheel to advance said pointer and tension said spring, a pawl cooperating with said wheel to prevent the return movement thereof, key controlled means for actuating said pawl to allow the return of said wheel and pointer by said spring, a spring tensioned latch to prevent the cooperation of said pawl and said wheel, and means on said wheel for releasing said pawl from said latch upon the complete return of said pointer.

5. In an indicator for keyboard mechanism, thecombination of an indicating device, key-controlled operating mechanism therefor, a resetting spring tensioned by the operation of said mechanism for returning said device to normal, releasing means for disconnecting said device and said mechanism to allow said spring to return said device to normal, and a safety latch made operative by the actuation of said means for preventing the connection of said device and said mechanism until the indicator has been completely reset.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 13th day of March A. D., 1914. AMOS F. DIXON.

Witnesses:

E. EDLER, N. E. 'IU'ri-IILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latenti. Washington, D. C. 

